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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24274276">Stars Be Our Witness</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cornflower_Corvid/pseuds/Cornflower_Corvid'>Cornflower_Corvid</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Yurileth Week - Non AU fics [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dancing, Goddess Tower (Fire Emblem), M/M, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Slight angst on Yuri's part, Yurileth Week 2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 05:26:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,750</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24274276</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cornflower_Corvid/pseuds/Cornflower_Corvid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Goddess Tower scene we were denied by IntSys. Yuri is at the Goddess Tower when Byleth decides he's had enough of being surrounded by his doting students. They have a conversation, and a wager is made. If Byleth loses, he has to tell Yuri a secret. What could it be?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Yuris Leclair | Yuri Leclerc/My Unit | Byleth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Yurileth Week - Non AU fics [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817728</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>59</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Stars Be Our Witness</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is for Yurileth Week 2020. This is for day 4 (I am posting a day late) but it is the Day 7 Prompts dancing/Goddess Tower. I thought they were two very good prompts to combine.</p><p>Please enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Yuri?"</p><p>Yuri turned to see Byleth approaching, though he hadn't needed to see him to know it was him. His voice was recognizable enough. </p><p>"Come out here to get away from all your admirers?" Yuri asked, smirking.</p><p>Byleth sighed. "I… I guess you could say that," he replied, looking up at the stars. "What about you? I didn't see you at the ball."</p><p>That was a surprising thing for Byleth to notice. Had he been looking for him? How had he noticed Yuri <em>wasn't</em> there between all of the students seeking his attention. "Not my kind of thing. Parties are fine, but not this kind," Yuri replied after a short pause. </p><p>Byleth raised an eyebrow but didn't seem inclined to comment on the throwaway detail. "Oh. I guess that makes sense. It is a lot of people," he reasoned. He wasn't entirely wrong, either. "What are you doing out here? The Goddess Tower doesn't seem like a normal place to hang out…"</p><p>Yuri chuckled. "It's nice and high up. The air and the stars are nice, yeah?" he said, gesturing up at the sky. “Sort of makes up for all the time I spend underground.” Byleth followed his movement and turned his gaze skyward, letting silence fall between them as they both appreciated the view.</p><p>After several minutes, Byleth looked back at Yuri. "My father told me all about the stars when I was young. He would use them to figure out where we were," he explained, looking back up at the stars.</p><p>Brow furrowed, Yuri continued to look at Byleth even after he had looked back up at the sky. "...how did he do that…?" Yuri asked, considerably mystified.</p><p>Byleth looked back at him, eyebrow raised. "Oh, uh, well… I'm not sure I'll do as good a job explaining it as he does, but I can try.” He pointed up at the sky, and Yuri’s eyes followed where his finger was pointing. “Do you see that one really bright star? It’s pretty big. It’s the North star.” Once Yuri nodded, Byleth continued. “On a clear night, if you can find the North star, and you know where one or two of the constellations are in relation to it, you can figure out where you are if you also know where the constellations are supposed to be during each time of the year. It’s kind of complicated, but even just being able to find the North star helps because it’s always visible if the sky is clear enough and it always points North. And if it's daytime, you can check where the sun is rising from, because that will be due east. Where the sun sets is due west," he explained, alternating between looking at the sky and looking at Yuri.</p><p>"That's pretty interesting. Hapi told me some stuff about stars once. She showed me some of the constellations. And she said that the ground we’re on is a big round thing called a planet, and it’s always spinning, which is why it looks like the stars are moving. They don’t actually move. The only thing that moves around our planet is the moon, but it doesn’t spin" Yuri said, looking up at the stars. "It's all really interesting, thinking about it… I want to know how it works."</p><p>Byleth nodded. "Learning new things is always nice. I guess, in a way I've just taken for granted the things my father has taught me. I haven't really sought out knowledge on my own. At least, until I came here. The library has changed that a lot," he said, looking to Yuri. He looked like he wanted to say something more, or perhaps ask a question, but he was refraining. Yuri thought it might be better that way, though some part of him didn't mind the idea of telling Byleth a bit more about himself.</p><p>"I… had to learn a lot of stuff the hard way. My mother taught me a lot of things, but they were more things about people rather than the world itself. I didn't really have access to a proper education until Rowe adopted me, but then, well, I think you know that story already," Yuri responded, still a bit uncomfortable with telling Byleth anything… but it might prove useful to give him little pieces of the truth in case he ever had a reason to lie to him. A lie hidden among truths was harder to detect.</p><p>"Yeah… you've mentioned it before," Byleth replied, nodding. "We should go to the library together sometime, either of them, and maybe learn some new stuff. Could be fun," he suggested, giving Yuri one of his small, rare smiles.</p><p>Yuri was taken aback by the invitation <em>and</em> the smile. A smile really did a lot for Byleth's face… it made him really quite handsome, more than he already was. And a visit to the library? Together? There was really no need for that, unless… but that seemed unlikely. "Yeah, could be fun sometime," Yuri replied, trying to keep his slight surprise off his face and out of his voice.</p><p>Byleth nodded pleasantly and then looked back up at the sky, his eyes almost seeming to twinkle with delight. It made Yuri's heart catch in his throat, and he looked away quickly, back up to the stars. They fell back into relative silence, one of them occasionally pointing out one constellation or another, until Byleth finally sighed and said, "I guess I should go back…" </p><p>"You don't sound like you want to," Yuri remarked, eyebrow quirked. </p><p>Shrugging, Byleth replied, "It was too much. Besides…" His gaze shifted back to the inky sky before he continued. "The one person I wanted to dance with wasn't even there…"</p><p>Now this was juicy. "Oh, who's the lucky lady who's caught your attention?" Yuri asked, smirking.</p><p>Byleth looked back at him with a hint of surprise on his face. "Why would you assume it’s a lady?"</p><p>Now it was Yuri's turn to look surprised. "Oh, I didn't know you… swung that way," he said, looking away sheepishly. </p><p>Byleth looked even more confused now. “Swung that way? What does that mean?” he asked.</p><p>Yuri couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. “It’s uh… a phrase used to allude to one’s… preferences,” He tried to make the last word sound significant, hoping it would allude to what he was specifically referring to.</p><p>Byleth looked confused still for a brief moment, but then he nodded and a look of comprehension settled on his face. “Ah… I’ll have to remember that phrase,” he said. He looked back up at the sky and nodded. "But it's fine. It's not that I'm particularly interested in one or the other, it's that… I just see people. I guess their gender just isn't a factor for me to… feel interest in someone," he explained, his face colouring slightly towards the end.</p><p>Yuri nodded. "I'm similar, though I do tend to lean towards more masculine individuals." After the words came out of his mouth he inwardly kicked himself, wondering why his sense of reservation always loosened when he was around Byleth. What was it about this man that made him so easy to confess your secrets to?</p><p>Despite Yuri's worry, Byleth seemed to have no issue with his preference. "People are all different. I think that's a good thing."</p><p>Yuri nodded, and then looked back up at the sky. "So is it someone I know?" he asked, still curious about who Byleth had wanted to dance with. </p><p>Something about the uneasy look on Byleth's face when the question came out alarmed Yuri. He wasn't quite sure what exactly it was, but something made him think he might not actually want to know the answer. Byleth ended up glancing away, to the ground, before he answered. "Yes, you do," he said, and Yuri couldn't tell if Byleth was trying to make the answer as simple as possible to avoid raising suspicions, or if the answer really was just that simple. </p><p>"Oh, well that's interesting. Someone I know then… I sorely hope it's not Balthus," Yuri returned with a chuckle.</p><p>Byleth just shook his head. "Not Balthus."</p><p>"Okay, then let's have ourselves a bet," Yuri suggested, glancing towards the entrance to the balcony they were on, where occasionally a student or two would poke their heads through to check if this balcony was occupied. They would usually notice Yuri first, since he was closer to the entranceway, and would immediately turn back around. "The next person to look out through that doorway will be female."</p><p>"And if you're right you want me to tell you who I wanted to dance with?" Byleth guessed, his expression resuming its usual passivity.</p><p>Yuri nodded. "And if I'm wrong, then what would your terms be?"</p><p>For a moment Byleth was silent as he seemed to be thinking, and then he looked at Yuri, and nodded slightly. It made him a bit uncomfortable, like Byleth was seeing right through him, but he kept his discomfort off his face. "Hide me away for the rest of the night so I don't have to go back to the ball," he replied finally.</p><p>"Ah, that sounds reasonable," Yuri said with a nod. "Alright then, you accept these conditions?"</p><p>Byleth nodded steadily.</p><p>They didn't have to wait very long for another couple to come up the tower and check the balcony, and it was indeed a female student dragging along a male student behind her who appeared to be less than enthusiastic about the whole thing. Upon seeing Yuri, she muttered something to her companion, and then continued up the staircase.</p><p>Yuri turned to Byleth with a bright grin. "I won. So, who is it then? Who did you want to dance with?"</p><p>Byleth gave him nearly imperceptible frown before glancing down at the ground. He really didn't seem to want to tell Yuri who is was. </p><p>"You lost, so you have to tell me," Yuri needled, smirking. "Come on, it can't be that emba-"</p><p>"It was you," Byleth interrupted, still staring at the ground.</p><p>Yuri was so shocked he was pretty sure he was frozen, wide-eyed and still in the middle of his sentence, for nearly a whole minute before he finally regained his senses. "Me?" he questioned, completely bewildered.</p><p>Byleth didn't seem able to summon his words, and instead he just nodded a bit.</p><p>"You're kidding, right?" Yuri asked, still bewildered. </p><p>Now it was Byleth's turn to be shocked. "What? No. Why would I be?"</p><p>Yuri looked away, towards the ground. Byleth’s gaze on him still felt almost clairvoyant, like he already knew why Yuri thought he was kidding. “Why would you?  </p><p>“Why would I what?” Byleth asked. His tone betrayed a small amount of his confusion.</p><p>“Want to… Why would you want to dance… with someone like me?” Yuri responded, feeling distraught both over what they were discussing and just how much he might be revealing by questioning Byleth’s motivations. What if he did just want to dance because he wanted to? Because he thought it might be nice to dance with him? Would that really be so bad? </p><p>For a moment Byleth didn’t answer, his face colouring a bit. “Um… well…” he started, running his hand through his hair absently. “I… I mean… I guess I’m not really entirely sure myself. But… ever since I heard about the ball, I knew that I wanted to dance with you. That’s one of the reasons I picked you for the Heron Cup. I knew you would win, but… I also wanted to… if we had to practice, I wondered if you might want to actually practice <em>with</em> me. But you didn’t bring it up, and I was too embarrassed to…” he explained, alternately glancing between the stone floor and Yuri’s face. His blush deepened the more he talked, and he seemed very embarrassed by the time he stopped speaking, which was odd on a man Yuri was so used to seeing with one stoic expression.</p><p>Yuri took a bit of time to think over what Byleth was saying before he responded, wondering if there was any ill intent behind his words. And wondering if Byleth really knew what it sounded like he was saying. If Byleth admitted to having a physical attraction to him, Yuri might have no choice but to exploit such a weakness. “Do you know what you’re saying?” he finally asked, hoping Byleth might clarify a bit more for him.</p><p>Byleth slowly nodded his head after a brief pause. “Yeah… I… I guess it means I like you… in… a romantic way? I guess?” he answered unsteadily, clearly uncomfortable with admitting his feelings. “But… I don’t really have much experience with… feeling things? Until I started teaching I didn’t really feel much… which I’m sure sounds really strange but… that seems to be a theme of my life, especially lately…” he explained, trailing off.</p><p>“What do you mean…?” Yuri asked, brow knitted together in confusion. “The theme of your life?”</p><p>Glancing back at Yuri, Byleth gave him a strange look, and then looked away again. “Well… my heart doesn’t beat,” he said. Yuri was shocked, and he didn’t even bother to hide it; he was going to reply to that when Byleth continued. “I have strange dreams about a war that happened a long time ago, and… a strange girl who sits on a throne talks to me. She doesn’t seem like a child.”</p><p>“Back up, yeah? Your heart doesn’t beat?” Yuri asked, still wearing an expression of shock.</p><p>Byleth nodded. “Yeah, I’m not sure why. I have a pulse, and I bleed, but I don’t have a heartbeat.”</p><p>“Uhhh… well okay, that’s definitely weird. And those dreams sound… kind of strange. Recurring, I guess? And the exact same every time?” Yuri replied, still trying to work out in his head how someone could lack a heartbeat.</p><p>“Yeah… my dad told me that when I was a baby, I didn’t even cry. When I was younger, I didn’t realize how strange that was, but I’ve heard babies cry since then, and it makes sense now. I don’t know if all these things are linked, but they might be? I don’t even know if there’s a real cause for them,” Byleth explained further. “And now, somehow, I can wield the Sword of the Creator and I have the Crest of Flames, and neither of those things should be possible. Though I guess it isn’t completely unreasonable that I can use the Sword because I have the Crest of Flames? …I’m just not… entirely sure.”</p><p>Yuri nodded and then tried to remind himself what they were actually talking about. “So… you think you have… an interest in me… but you aren’t sure because you don’t really have experience with feelings, which might have something to do with the fact that your heart doesn’t beat, you have strange dreams, and you have a Crest that shouldn’t exist,” he summarized. “Sounds reasonable. Though, and I’m sure you know this, I also have a Crest that shouldn’t exist, so at least we have that in common.”</p><p>Byleth nodded. “The Crest of Aubin, right?” His toned was hushed, which Yuri very much appreciated.</p><p>“Yeah… I have no idea how I got it either…” he confirmed.</p><p>They sat in silence again for a bit; Byleth continued to look up at the stars while Yuri tried to figure out how he felt about this odd situation. Occasionally Byleth would look over at him, though his face had mostly resumed its usual placid look, so Yuri couldn’t discern anything from his glances.</p><p>For some reason, something about this conversation made Yuri reconsider his initial resolution to use Byleth’s attraction against him. Hell, Byleth wasn’t even sure he was attracted to him… but interestingly enough, dancing was sure a good way to figure something like that out. Maybe, for now, it was better to see how this played out. Byleth was certainly a very interesting person, and Yuri couldn’t say he didn’t feel some sort of connection to him; after all, he was very helpful with the incident with the Scorpions, and he was willing to listen to Yuri talk about the Elder, and he seemed to genuinely think Yuri’s dream was a good one to have… but Yuri knew better than to trust people easily. And he certainly knew that Byleth was better off forgetting his potential infatuation with him and finding someone else… but Yuri was curious. And selfish.</p><p>“Well then… why don’t we let our little bet work out in both our benefits, hm? I got to find out who you wanted to dance with… why don’t I occupy your time so you don’t have a reason to go back to the ball?” Yuri suggested.</p><p>Byleth pursed his lips, a questioning look on his face. “Ah… okay? I mean, you don’t have to do that…”</p><p>Yuri gave him a nonchalant wave. “Nonsense. It’s fine. Besides…” he began, carefully watching Byleth’s face for his reaction, “Why don’t we have ourselves that dance anyway? Honestly, you could have just told me in the first place that you wanted to dance, even back when we were practicing for the competition. But it’ll be good for me if you can figure out your feelings, cause its kind of hard for me to know what to do if you’re not even sure what your feelings are. Dancing a bit might help with that.”</p><p>“Oh,” Byleth replied, a mild expression of surprise on his face. “I guess that makes sense.”</p><p>“Yeah, of course,” Yuri replied, moving into the main area of the balcony, away from the wall. “Want to come over here then?” Byleth nodded, moving towards Yuri. He brought his hands up in front of himself, but only clasped them together instead of putting them on Yuri. “What’s the matter?”</p><p>Byleth looked a bit sheepish. “I didn’t want to assume that I’m leading,” he explained.</p><p>Yuri nodded. “Right, that makes sense. Which position are you more comfortable with?” he asked, wondering if Byleth would pick up on the innuendo.</p><p>If he did, he didn’t comment on it. “Leading, honestly… but it’s okay if-”</p><p>Yuri put his hands up in front of Byleth to try to interrupt him. “Don’t worry about it, I’m good in both.” He resolutely put his left hand up on Byleth’s shoulder to stop him from protesting further, and because he didn’t want to get his feet stepped on if he let Byleth to follow. Byleth did end up putting his right hand on Yuri’s waist after a moment, his face turning a bit red. He must be realizing how close they were. Yuri took his other hand in his and then looked up at him, waiting for him to start.</p><p>“We don’t have music,” Byleth said, pursing his lips again.</p><p>Sighing a bit, Yuri started tapping his foot on the ground, and Byleth glancing down, watching for a moment, and then looked back up at Yuri, his eyebrow raised. When Yuri began humming though, a look of realization dawned on his face. The tune was one Yuri was very familiar with, and though he didn’t like singing normally, humming the tune to give Byleth something to lead to didn’t feel so disturbing to him.</p><p>Byleth seemed to be taking a moment to get used to the rhythm, and then he finally started to move his feet, Yuri following carefully. “I didn’t know you… had an ear for music…” he said after a moment.</p><p>Yuri shrugged noncommittally. “Yeah I suppose I do. Honestly, I’d rather not talk about it though,” he said, hoping his voice was firm enough to shut down any prying.</p><p>Nodding, Byleth seemed content to leave it at that, and he gave Yuri a small smile as he continued their dance. After some time, they stopped since Byleth was growing tired and Yuri was straining his throat with his humming.  “That… was nice. Thank you,” Byleth said as they parted, though Yuri got the odd feeling that he didn’t want to pull away so soon.</p><p>“Do you feel any different? Are your feelings… clearer?” Yuri asked, looking up at Byleth, his face carefully blank. He questioned his own motivations for helping Byleth figure his feelings out, but for now it was easier to shove those thoughts in the back of his mind to be examined later.</p><p>For a moment Byleth seemed to be thinking, looking up at the stars, and then he looked back down at Yuri. “I’m… not really sure. I- dancing with you felt nice. I enjoyed it. But I’m not sure what that means for my feelings…”</p><p>Yuri nodded. “It might take some time to figure out. If you do though, let me know, I’m sure I’ll be around.”</p><p>Byleth nodded in agreement. “Yeah. I’ll let you know,” he said. “Uh, want to try to get out of here? Hopefully there won’t be as many students around, and maybe I can escape.”</p><p>Yuri nodded, and they left their little balcony, descending down the stairs of the Goddess Tower. Most people who saw them didn’t bother with them, and they managed to get all the way back down to the entrance to Abyss by Byleth’s room without incident. </p><p>“Thank you for hearing me out, Yuri,” Byleth said. The sincerity in his words caught Yuri off guard, and for a moment he was sure his face betrayed some of that, but if it did Byleth had no reaction. </p><p>“You’re welcome. I’m pleased that I had such excellent but unexpected company. I really didn’t think anyone was going to join me out there,” Yuri replied. “I mean, I wouldn’t have wanted <em>most</em> people to keep me company, but you are certainly an exception.” Uh oh. Was that admitting too much? Again, it was impossible to tell with Byleth, and now Yuri understood that it wasn’t on purpose; Byleth just wasn’t good at expressing his feelings.</p><p>“Well, I’m glad I was good company then. Maybe it’s a good thing I left the ball when I did,” Byleth said, nodding. </p><p>Yuri indulged himself for a moment and allowed a small smile to slip through his mask. “I’ll more than likely see you tomorrow. Have a good night,” he said, giving Byleth a small wave as he headed towards the pathway down to Abyss. Byleth gave him a small nod and a wave in response, and then Yuri headed down the path, wondering what exactly he was getting himself into.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm hoping to post my Day 5 piece later today (which is for the Day 3 Prompt, Trust). Tomorrow I'll be posting for the Day 5 Prompts (I used Injury).</p><p>Thank you for reading! Please leave a kudos if you enjoyed it, and keep in mind that I always love comments, even if it's just a keyboard smash and you telling me how much you liked it. Constructive comments are not necessary (but are still appreciated)!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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